Rotary sewage distributor



A. A. PAGE ROTARY SEWAGE DISTRIBUTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 23, 1943.

Original Filed April l0, 1959 a 3BE@ ,45 zo rneys Mach 23, 1943. A A PAGE 2,314,423

ROTARY SEWAGE DISTRIBUTOR Original Filed April l0, 1939 2 Sheets-SheetI 2 I zyevzor Patented Mar. 23, 1943 ROTARY sEWAGE prs'rnrurron Arthur A. Page, Red. Wing, `Minn., assigner rby c mesne assignments t Albert M; Mannelli Kane sas City, Mo.

Continuation of application 4 Serial l\lo. 26'7,^1251,v April 10, 1939, which is a continuation ofapplicaton SerialgNo.y 41,769, Septemberv 23, 1935.y

vSeptember 10, 1941,.Serial No.

This application 410,255

2 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary sewage distributors for use particularly in distributing sewage onto the beds of triclsling lters.. This application is a continuation of my prior application for patent Serial No. 267,151, filed AprilA 1939, entitled Rotary distribution for sewage filters, which said application Serial No. 267,151 was a continuation of my earlier led applicationv Serial No. 41,769, led September 23, 1935, entitled Rotary distributor for sewage lters.

It; is the general object of this invention to provide a nox/e1 and improved rotary sewage dis.- tributor which will economically, eciently and uniformly distribute sewage onto the Vlterr bed of atrickling lter.

More specifically it is the object of the .invention to provide a rotary distributor for sewage having nozzles which will not clog and which will eiciently spray sewagein a rain like 4spray over av Wide surface of the bed of a trickling lter and which nozzles by the reactive force of sev/age passing therethrough Will cause rotation of the distributor without theemployment of a driving motor or some other source of powery independent of the` nozzles.

y It has long been Vrecognized by sewage en,- gineers that,l for economy of construction and eiiciency of operation of trickling lters, sewage should be distrib-uteduniformly over the. surface of a filter bed in a rain like spray. A` rainy like distribution can be obtained `by employing With the distributor spraynozzles ,such as those employed in spraying water kand having small orifices or restricted orifices. Such nozzles-,cannot bepsed successfully with sewage for the reason thai-,sewage contains large quantities of solids in suspension and greasy matter that quickly clog Y such nozzles necessitating frequent shut. down of the distributor and constant ,servicingv of the nozzles to clean them.

To produce a distributor having nozzles which will no t readily clog it has been the common practice tov provide rotary distributors having hollow radial arms equipped With outlets from which the sewage pours in vsolid streams onto the filter bed. And in the case of certain of s uch rotary distributors the reactive forces Y,oi the sewage flowing from the youtlets have been use d to rotate the distributor.V Such distributors as last mentioned are rather economical to operate inasmuch as VAnoAmotor or other independent mechanism for rotating the distributor is required and 'the outletsdo notreadily clog, HOW-- evepjsuch rotary distributors are ynot highly efficient for the reason that they require the use ofL very large filter bede7 wlilen ere ebenevete eenetreblneennen es wbentne sewage-nenne, downjln' solid StreenlsfreIn-tbe entlebe these e does notiebrerevenly. ever tneenbire Sff e. ef ther nner bed endv the filter` bed benne used te the Serneintensityes lb eeulflbe lf tbe sewage 'Could be sprayed frern tnedletllbbier overfqnite-e Wide eren ef 'the'lber beflln. the generalY snrlnklineerb xed end 1191.1- Ietatine sprinkling, nQZZleS Sllclif .be those ,Shown in .the 'Beyer' Patent .Ne- ,lblfllo' .0fA Oerle. r. lil; 192.4; and the v Frledine Patent vNe, 1,615. 19 ef Janneryle; 1927;, here been need., T besenennlee erenf e tynelllclllllg en??? ll'flllllg .n.tfllgelliill inlet port,r one. closed 'pend and'one ,openfend equipped with .e lereie dleennrgeenilet enel will? this ,bynebf neznle the lludliegiren Vn Yfvlll action' in bhe llllbwend'ltdeehefgee flOlIl he disehayrge .outlet in la tangential vhollow Yce spray. The whirling eQti'OnPreYeYltethe e frorneleseine. inside .of the .hub andes tbe dnellerge eutlet isler'ee it wlllfneteleey ,Snell nozzles b9 my knowledge heve'netbeferefny invention been use@ ferdistribntlns `seifnee and it haengt been heretefere .under t 'ed er' dseevlf ered theteueh nozzles' .eoiild'be In yedneellr neetienzwiih. e Lintervgsewnee diet.' ,.elf'tevreteie theeeme! I 'lleve -dleeevered the? ealllelllyeieleeteby andefeenb rotary, .Sewage eleirlbbter eqib ed with` .einery nezzlee .een be `bred. een' whien ill uniionnlyrlsnrayeewnse ever el wide. eren lter benin' the formel a Yrnnlikespiny.Y wA out .Cleeeillg ef the L.distrilente.` nenzlesend .w le rebetinsihe distributor by menbneneh nozzles es issnown initie Beyer andGerellngrnetentS on e'reterydistrib-pter lnsnehla position that reactive forces are set up as the sewage dis;-y charged `from ythe nozzles in adirection to 1n ,uce rotatlon'ef, the .ellle heeft lhvieebyelimilflblillg theneeessity. forltne use ef t a, motor., er f Qt efr sqnreefol bbwersferroteting tnedstributer in ebendent .ef the nozzles..themseivesand ,seeulne aree. eeenemy ef enelelen- An enbedimenb Lef the intenten leilluebreted inthe. accompanying drawings. wherein. leeY ret ereneetharaeters refer t0 the. Same "Ulf ila? parte.tnroughontihereneusyiews enclin w .elle

Fig. 1 is a `planlview of nl .rotary JSewage ff tributnr .embodying the inventldn' and Woring @verla lter bed.;

Eig. Y-2;,is la vrvertical sectiontaken .on theuline 2:2 QI ,lilak l1 as lrlllieeteflby ,tnefarrewst Eig., 3 isla .,.view .en ,enlar'sedseale V`valeen eliiely in side elevation ofthe distributor,v certainl fthe parts being broken away and shownin section;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 5 as indicated by the arrows and showing one of the nozzles and attached parts; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4 as indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a portion of a continuous flow type trickling lter F including a circular wall 6 within which a suitable iilter medium I is contained the particular medium illustrated being a hollow filter tile. As is well known in the art the sewage, after such solids as can be removed therefrom by settling,

is distributed over the surface of the bed formed by the filter medium 1 and it gradually trickles downwardly through the bed where it is acted on by bacteria and is clarified and purified. My sewage distributor is intended primarily for use with such a trickling filter as that typiiied by the iilter F. *Y I T o properly support the rotary head of myV sewage distributor I'may provide a socket 8 which will be permanently attached at the bottom of the filter F and which may carry a supporting standard 9 rising vertically through the .lter bed to emerge above the bed at the center thereof. Secured to the upper end of the standard 9 is a pipe ntting I!) to which is connected a horizontal se age supply pipe I I through which sewage from which most of the solids have been separated as by settling is run under pressure. The sewage supplypipe Ii communicates through the tting I with a vertical upwardly extending stand pipe I2 which, of course, will be located at the center of` the filter bed l. On this stand pipe I2 a rotary distributing head I3 is mounted which carries t-plurality of radial horizontally disposed hollow distributing arms I4, the said arms being preferably regularly circumferentially spaced relative to the center ofthe head I3. To suitably support the head I3 for rotation on the stand pipe I2, a bearing member I is carried by a lower or'skirt part of the head I3 being screwed into the skirt. Of course, the head I3 is hollow and the bearing member I5 is annular whereby' the stand pipe I2 will run through'the bearing member I5 and into the lower part of the head I3 to communicate with the head. Packing yI6 Yserves to prevent the leakage of sewage between the head I3v and the stand pipe I2. The bearing member I5 carries near its lower end a suitable roller bearing I'I which engages a roller race I8 carried by the stand pipe I2. The above described arrangement is merely one arrangement which may be provided for supporting' the head I3 for free rotation over the lter bed while permitting the supply of sewage under pressure to the head.

`The distributor arms I4, of course, communicate with the head I3 at their inner ends and the arms are in the form of pipes and they run outwardly in radial direction some little distance from the head I3. A multiplicity of spray nozzles 2| are carried by the various arms I4 and they are vso carried as to permit of rotative adjustment of the nozzles about the longitudinal axes of the various arms as well as to permit rotative adjustment of the nozzles about axes normal to the longitudinal axes of the various arms.

\ In the case of nozzles 2| which are other than those located at the extreme outer ends of the arms I4 T iittings 22 are interposed between sections of the arms whereby these T ttingscan be turned so that the central outlets of theT fittings 40, will be equipped with a number of nozzles.

are set at any desired angulation taken about the longitudinal axes of the particular arms to which these fittings are attached. In the case of the outermost nozzles 2| elbows 23 are secured to the outer ends of the arms 20 and these elbows can be swung so that the outlets therefrom extend at desired angulations taken about the longitudinal axes of the arms 20.

lEach nozzle 2I as best illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 consists of a cylindrical hub having a tangential inlet 2Ia running into and communieating with the cylindrical body of the hub and one end of the hub is closed by a wall 2lb. The end of the hub opposite the closed end is open to provide a discharge outlet 2Ic of considerable size relative to the interior diameter of the hub. 'I'heoutlet 2Ic is preferably circular and is completely unobstructed. In the illustrated embodiment, the outlet 2 Ic is of somewhat less diameter than the interior diameter of the nozzle 2 I but it is found unnecessary to make the diameter of the outlets less than the interior diameter of the hub of the nozzle. The size of the outlet 2 Ic will be varied to suit the requirements of the particular lter in connection with which the distributorA is used, the pressure at which the sewage is sup# plied and the position 0f the nozzle on the dis-l tributor which works over the filter. Thus, for' example, it may be desirable to` employ nozzles '2I having dierent size outlets 2 Ic at the inner partY of the distributor than the nozzles located at the outer part of the distributor. In the drawings two of the arms I4 are shown as being equipped' with one nozzlev 2I each and the two other arms are shown as being equipped with two nozzles.'

It is desirable to have more nozzles near the outer ends of the arms inasmuch as the outer ends of the arms travel over a greater area of the filter bed and better distribution'is thus obtained. In" actual practice on large distributors each arm" The tangential inletVZIa of each nozzle is preferably connected to a nipple I9 and each nipple is screw threaded into its connecting T 22 or elbow 23., By reason of the screw threadedV connection beltween each nipple and its connecting T or elbow,

the nozzle can be turned angularly relative to theA T or elbow so that the nozzle can be set at any desired angle relative to an axis extending normal to the longitudinal axis of the particular arm',A I4v to which the nozzle is connected.

In setting the nozzles 2l they are so disposed that the outlets 2 Ic are at the upper ends of the nozzles and face somewhat rearwardly relative' to the intended direction of rotation of the distributor. Preferably, the cylindrical hubs of the nozzles 2I will stand at somewhere between a 4:5"v angle and a '75 angle in respect to the horizontal, tipped as shown. This angulation that is given to the nozzles is for the purpose of causing reactive forces to be set up against the closed ends 2| b of the nozzles as the sewage is sprayed therefrom whereby the distributor including the head I3, arms I4, and nozzles 2I are caused to rotate relative to the stand pipe I2. The speed of rotation,4 of the distributor can be varied by varying the tilt of the nozzles relative to the arms or by varying the tilt of at least certain of the nozzles relative to the arms. The range of spray from indi. vidual nozzles can also be varied by changing they tilt of the nozzles.

As sewage under pressure is supplied through" the pipe II the sewage runs upwardly through the stand pipe I2 into the headY I3 Where it is dis-il tributed to the several radial arms I4. Some of the-sewagefisthrown onto ,the bed VI from ther innernozzlesll icarriedpby the radial arms I4 while,l other portions ofthe sewage pass von. tobe distributed from the outer nozzles 2 I. The

sewage'running into any one of the nozzles 2| through 4the tangential inlet 2 la is given a whirl, ing;motion `and the sewagedue to this whirlingV action keeps the interior of the nozzle clean.- Ther arainlike form and to cover a wide area on the filter bed. The nozzles are so spaced on the distributor that the major part of the filter bed is" constantly sprayed and as the distributor rotates every portion of the lter bed will receive a spray of sewage. The nozzles are also so located when provided in the proper quantity and location that approximately the same amount of sewage will be distributed to each portion of the lter bed during a given time period. With this arrangement it will be seen that a very efficient distribution of the sewage over the bed can be effected.

'I'he use of the nozzles 2| to distribute sewage on a rotary distributor turning through a circular path over a circular lter bed is peculiarly benecial to secure even distribution over that bed for a reason that it is not at once apparent. Even distribution from a rotary sewage distributor working over a circular lter bed and turning about a vertical axis at the center of the bed can be secured only if at successively greater radial distances from the center of the bed and distributor more sewage is sprayed from the distributor to cover to the same degree and intensity the successively larger zones of the bed onto which the sewage must fall and over which the distributor works. The sewage being admitted to the hub of one of my nozzles 2| through the tangential inlet 2Ia, is, as has been stated, given a whirling action in the hub and, depending largely on the depth of the hub of the nozzle, the diameter of the hub and the side of the tangential inlet, the sewage whirls in the hub of each nozzle 2| of similar construction through a definite number of angular degrees to finally issue from the outlet 2Ic of the nozzle chiefly at one point sothat the chief portion of the spray stream from the nozzle and the bulk of the spray stream issues from one side of the nozzle and falls at one side of the nozzle onto the filter bed. By proper adjustment of the nozzles relative to the distributor arms I4 the nozzles are turned so that their discharge points are outwardly disposed and they are thus made to discharge the bulk o-f their spray streams outwardly from their points of attachment to the distributor arms I4 with but relatively small parts of their spray streams discharging inwardly of the points of attachment to the nozzles of the distributor arms. There is thus an ever increasing gradation of sewage discharge from each nozzle outwardly on the bed from the point where the inner part of the spray stream from that nozzle strikes the bed to the point where the outer part of the spray stream from that nozzle strikes the bed. This gradation corresponds generally to the requirements of the circular bed so as to give to each part of the bed approximately the same amount of sewage as the distributor works over the bed. Thus the use of the nozzles 2| on a rotary distributor secure successively greater distribution of sewage radially outwardly from the center of rotation of the distributorf'and` evensdistribution4 over the entirefllter bed is thus obtained;

c As hasbeen before brought out the interiors ofr the hubs of the nozzles 2| are washed clean.v

by 'the rotary stream of fluid passing therethrough. As the outlet openings 2 Ic of the nozf.`

zles are large in diameter and are unobstructed itis almost impossible for the outlets of the` nozzles to clog. By reason of this fact the nozzles veryrarely7 have to be serviced and highly economical operation of the distributor is thus occasioned by reason ofthe peculiar nozzle con-A struction. As the reactivevforces set up against the closed ends v2lb of the nozzles cause rotationV sprayed by a continuously rotating rain likey spray without the necessity of the use of a motor or any other mechanism for rotating the distributor apart from the nozzles. Attention should be called to the fact that the nozzles do not merely dump the water in a solid stream onto the filter medium as is the case with many other nozzles now in use on sewage distributors. The sewage is sprayed in a fine spray onto the bed so that it is distributed o-ver a wide area uniformly.

It will be seen that an extremely emcient sewage distributor has been provided. The simple structure and the combination of the nonclogging feature, the spray feature and the self rotational feature make this type of distributor highly successful for the purposes intended. 'Ihe distributor has met with wide success in commercial installation.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departure from the present invention which generally stated consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sewage distributor for applying sewage to a trickling filter comprising a hollow bearing member, means for supplying sewage to said bearing member, a hollow head rotatably mounted on said bearing member and receiving sewage therefrom, a plurality of hollow distributing arms projecting outwardly from and communicating with said head, a multiplicity of circumferentially and radially spaced sprinkler nozzles each nozzle being in the form of a cylindrical hub having a tangential inlet port and one closed end and one open end equipped with an unobstructed discharge outlet and tubular articulated connecting means connecting the tangential inlet ports of said nozzles to said arms, said connecting means being rotatably adjustable about the longitudinal axes of said arms and being rotatably adjustable about axes normal to the longitudinal axes of said arms, at least certain of said nozzles being set relative to said arms at such tipped angles that reactive forces will be set up against the closed ends of said nozzles as sewage discharges therefrom to cause rotation of said head and arms and the nozzle structure being such that sewage as discharged from said nozzles will be given a centrifugal action to maintain the nozzles in clean unobstructed condition and sewage will be discharged from said nozzles over the major portion of a circular area in a rain like spray.

2. A sewage distributor for applying sewage to a circular area of a trickling filter, comprising a hollow bearing member, means for supplying sewage to said bearing member, a hollow head rotatably mounted on said bearing member and receiving sewage therefrom, a plurality of hollow distributing arms projecting outwardly from and communicating with said head, a multiplicity of sprinkler nozzles, each nozzle being in the form of a cylindrical hub having a tangential inlet port and one closed end and one open end equipped with an unobstructed discharge outlet and a multiplicity of hollow nozzle connecting means attached to and communicating with said arms at circumferentially and radially spaced points relative to the center of said head and to which connecting means the tangential inlet ports of the respective nozzles are connected, at least some of the nozzles being set by said connecting means in tipped relation relative to the vertical so that reactive forces against the closed ends of the tipped nozzles will be setup by the sewage-y as it is discharged from the tipped nozzles to cause rotation of said head and arms, each nozzle l construction being inherently such that sewage Y running through the same Will be given a centrifugal action to discharge in `a cone-like'spray chiefly in an overbalanced relation at one side of y the same and said nozzles being further so setv by said connecting means that the overbalanced .f portions of the spray discharged from at least cular area on which the spray from the distributor falls.

ARTHUR A. PAGE. 

